Cuba 2016 5/29/2016 Charisse L'Pree, Ph.D.: "In May, I was honored to
accompany a delegation from the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi)
to Hominis 2016, organized by the Cuban Psychological Society in Havana.
The trip was amazing!"

Making a difference is Grills’ top concern. She has recently returned from
Ferguson, where she provided psychological triage for community members
after the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for
killing Michael Brown. There, Grills conducted Emotional Emancipation
Circles, experiential self-help groups that deal with what she believes is
at the core of many social justice questions: the emotionally stressful
reality of being black in America. --
Psychology Applied Research Center aims to effect social change for L.A.'s
neediest 1/14/2015 LA Times

Cuba
2016 5/29/2016 Charisse L'Pree, Ph.D.: "In May, I was honored to accompany
a delegation from the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) to Hominis
2016, organized by the Cuban Psychological Society in Havana. The trip was amazing!"

Communities of Color Creating Healthy Environments to Combat Childhood Obesity 8/23/2015 American
Journal of Public Health: "Ethnic and racial health disparities present an
enduring challenge to community-based health promotion, which rarely targets
their underlying population-level determinants (e.g., poverty, food insecurity,
health care inequity). We present a novel 3-lens prescription for using
community organizing to treat these determinants in communities of color based
on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Communities Creating Healthy
Environments initiative, the first national project to combat childhood obesity
in communities of color using community organizing strategies. The lenses—Social
Justice, Culture–Place, and Organizational Capacity–Organizing Approach—assist
health professional–community partnerships in planning and evaluating community
organizing–based health promotion programs. These programs activate community
stakeholders to alter their community’s disease-causing, population-level
determinants through grassroots policy advocacy, potentially reducing health
disparities affecting communities of color."

African-Centered Psychology with Dr. Cheryl Tawede Grills 4/30/2015 But If
You Did Know...What would it look like?: "Overall, Dr. Grills blew me away with
her knowledge, voice, ideas, and empowered me not only as a professional in the
psychology field, but as a woman. To me, she nailed the important issues that
are commonly brushed away or swept under the rug in not only our society, but in
our education systems. Her other area she spoke about included counseling
incarcerated communities. I would like to learn more about these topics and be
able to utilize them in my profession and be a change-agent in the psychology
field."

Driving Tour of Ferguson, MO 2/9/2015 Charisse L'Pree, Ph.D.: "Last
December, I accompanied Dr. Cheryl Grills to Ferguson and St. Louis MO as she
led training sessions for Emotional Emancipation Circles. Before the formal
events, Eddie Becton took us on a driving tour of Ferguson; I documented it with
my handycam."

Psychology Applied Research Center aims to effect social change for L.A.'s
neediest 1/14/2015 LA Times: "In one recent project, PARC helped the
L.A.-based grassroots community organizing agency United Coalition East
Prevention Project and the L.A. County/USC Medical Center tackle a major strain
on the emergency room: overuse by the area's homeless residents. Take note of
that phrase, “homeless residents.” For Grills, it's a way to frame them as part
of the community, not as the “other.”"

As Santería grows and evolves, the increasing focus on Africa opens rifts among
the sects 3/28/2014 Miami Herald: "Cheryl Grills, a Loyola Marymount
University psychology professor and Ifá practitioner, last fall arranged for
Elebuibon to visit Havana, where he met with a group of babalawos for an
informal two-day conference to talk about the roots of the religion. “It was a
wonderful and enriching experience,” Grills said. “The babalawos there were so
incredibly appreciative.” The host, a Cuban psychologist and Lukumi practitioner
named Dr. William Viera, was so moved that he traveled to Nigeria in December to
be initiated. There, Elebuibon bestowed him with the title of Havana’s “Araba,”
the highest position a Yoruba traditional priest can earn."